


1955

by RufusTBarleysheath



Category: Being Human (UK)
Genre: Backstory, Bromance, Enemies to Friends, F/M, Gen, Living Together, Pre-Canon, flatmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-20
Updated: 2014-12-26
Packaged: 2018-02-26 10:02:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2647865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RufusTBarleysheath/pseuds/RufusTBarleysheath
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>1955 is the year everything changes for Leo, Hal and Pearl: for worse, for better, forever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story picks up exactly where “Hal’s Prequel” leaves off, so you really need to have watched that to get where we’re starting from here. If you haven’t watched it, go watch it now. It’s only six minutes, and this story will still be here when you get back.
> 
> >>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3_9IkSL7Rg

**Prologue**

_“This is the moment, Hal.”_

Leo looks up at Hal with a determination in his eyes that barely masks his fear. His hands tremble, Hal notices, but the young werewolf never breaks eye contact - he even calls Hal by his name, as though they are equals. Hal silently curses the man for his prescience: the wisdom, he thinks, of a man with nothing left to lose. Hal wishes he could have a fraction of this man’s bravery, but Leo has nothing left to lose, and Hal has everything.

_“What you do now is going to change everything.”_

Leo tries his hardest not to show how terrified he is. The vampire - of course - is blank, unreadable, and this scares Leo even more than if he were to come at him cruel and cold, fangs flashing. Leo’s instincts are telling him this monster cannot be trusted, especially in this vulnerable state, unpredictable and full of raw emotion. But Leo can feel the wolf in him tonight. He is strong, he is reckless - and what other choice does he have but to put his own life into Hal’s hands?

_“Here it comes.”_

**Chapter 1**

“It’s time for your walk, doggie!” called an anonymous vampire as he walked into the room, jangling keys. The man was tall and lanky, sporting sideburns and a trim beard.

Hal and Leo stared, frozen, at the man as he entered, then turned back to glance at each other. Then back at the man. Then each other.

Without saying a word, Hal smashed a crate on the floor, snatched up a shard of wood and stabbed it into the other vampire’s heart.

As the man crumbled to dust before his eyes, Hal stood motionless, his blank expression slowly morphing into one of stunned horror.

“The keys!” hissed Leo. “Get his keys!”  


Dropping to his knees, Hal fumbled around in the pile of dust and clothing which had been, only 5 seconds earlier, a vampire, until his violently shaking hands closed around a keyring. Then he turned toward Leo, still crouching, a look of pained bewilderment on his face.

In response, Leo picked up the chains tethering him to the wall, shaking them in Hal’s direction, as if to say - “hello?”

Still in an apparent state of shock, Hal rushed over to Leo and fumbled with the set of keys until he found the right one. After a concerted effort, something clicked, and Leo shook the chain free first from one wrist, then the other, and finally - after grabbing the keys out of Hal’s still-spasming hands - the thick belt girding his waist. Leo stumbled to his feet. Every bone in his body was aching.

Hal took a tentative step away from Leo as he rose to his feet, looking the other man up and down, as though worried he might attack without provocation. Instead, though, Leo looked at Hal with impatient anticipation.

“Well?” he said, rubbing his sore neck. “ _How do we get out?_ ”

“There’s a passage, a, a - a back entrance. We’ll go through there.”

Hal led the way as Leo followed, tentatively, brandishing a shard of wood from the floor as a makeshift stake. Neither of them breathed until they reached the end of a corridor and Hal pushed the door open; Leo exhaled and staggered out into the late-afternoon sunlight, falling to his knees.

“If you’ve quite finished,” said Hal when it appeared Leo showed no sign of getting up, “we’re on a bit of a tight schedule--”

But Leo cut him off, turning slowly and deliberately to look at Hal. “I have been locked in your cell, vampire, for _six months_. Six months I have not seen the light of day. Six months I have not breathed the air. So if I want to feel the sun on my face for one moment, then, by God, you will let me!”

Hal regarded his kneeling companion in silence for a moment. “Well,” he responded after a pause, “the _sun_ you love so much is not going to be out for much longer. We have maybe 45 minutes until full moon.”

“Right,” said Leo, getting up and brushing dirt off his knees. “We need to get me to a forest - somewhere remote --”

“A forest?” Hal laughed mirthlessly. “Look where we are. We’re in the middle of London. We don’t have time to get you to a forest. We don’t have time to get you anywhere.”

“Then what do we do?”

“Follow me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is a) really short and b) light on action.I promise there will be lots of action to come... and emotions, fighting, bonding, bickering, romance, intrigue, death, backstories, and someone getting hit over the head by a frying pan. Also stay tuned for some more appearances from familiar characters!
> 
> p.s. this is my first ever fic so... suggestions are more than welcome!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hal helps Leo find a safe(ish) place to transform.

The sky was already beginning to darken when Hal and Leo - the latter slightly out of breath - arrived at the church door. For a second, Hal made to knock, but he hesitated, then pushed the door open and strode in; _force of habit_ , Leo thought. He supposed ancient vampires didn’t have to knock much.

The church was empty save for one man - a vicar, by his clothing - milling about the chancel, going through a stack of papers. Hal and Leo’s footsteps on the stone floor echoed up to the vaulted ceiling as they entered, and the vicar whirled around. His expression hardened when he took in Hal. A visible tremor went through his body. He reached behind himself, feeling around on the pulpit, and produced a rosary with a large cross.

“Begone, vampire!” he shouted in a clear but wavering voice. 

Leo paused in his tracks, eyeing the vampire and the vicar warily; but Hal did not break stride. He merely raised an eyebrow, a challenge.

“I thought vampires were supposed to be scared off by crosses?” Leo asked quietly, sidling up to Hal. 

“They usually are, but I’m an old one,” Hal muttered back. “Our bloodline predates Christianity.” 

“Don’t come any further!” cried the vicar, still brandishing the cross, and taking a step backwards, although Leo and Hal were barely halfway down the aisle. 

“We mean you no harm, father,” Hal sighed, with as much sincerity as he could muster. He took a tentative step forward. “I have come to ask for your help--” 

“And you think I would offer help to someone like you?” 

“Tell me, father, what does your bible say about helping the needy?” 

“I will not be lectured on scripture by the likes of you, a creature of--” 

Their squabbling was interrupted by Leo, who fell to his knees in the aisle. Clutching a wooden pew for support, he let out a guttural scream. His whole body convulsed. “

He’s the one who needs your help,” said Hal quietly. 

The vicar furrowed his brow. “Is he... like you?” he asked. 

Hal glanced down at Leo, who was getting to his feet, dusting himself off with what Hal thought seemed an impressive amount of dignity. 

“No,” responded Hal. “He’s nothing like me.” 

Leo stood up next to Hal, rubbing his head. He appeared not to have heard their last exchange while he was on the floor. “All right,” he exhaled, “is somebody going to get me to a safe place or are we going to stand here all night talking about bloody theology until the sun comes up?” 

Addressing both men, Hal said, “there is a secure cellar underneath this church with thick cement walls. I know this because I was trapped there for a lengthy period of time in 1752 by a group of vigilante monks. Now, you will assist me in bringing this man down to safety, or you will be--” 

“He means please,” interrupted Leo hoarsely. “Please, we would greatly appreciate your help. Don’t you, Hal?” He glared at Hal. Hal gave a terse nod. 

“Right, then,” said the vicar, looking from the tense vampire to the twitching werewolf. “I’ll go get the keys.” He departed, a bit too hastily. 

 

“You know that man, then?” Leo sat down on a pew. 

“No,” said Hal. “But he knows me.” 

Leo convulsed again, rearing forward and moaning, his hands clutching the seat in front of him, his eyes rolling back in his head, exposing bloodshot veins. 

Hal wrung his hands. Glancing around nervously, he called out: “Father!” 

The vicar came running back in, keys in hand. “This way!” he cried, gesturing to a door beside the altar. 

Hal reached out gingerly to support Leo, who was on all fours, moaning. But Leo rebuffed him, and staggered to his feet. Hal heard Leo’s neck make an ominous cracking noise. He cringed. 

“Quickly!” The two men escorted the werewolf down a narrow flight of stairs; Leo ricocheted from one wall to the other, grabbing at a thin railing for support. It felt like ages to Hal before they reached an ancient-seeming wooden door, emblazoned with an elaborate cross and fastened with a bronze padlock. Hal clenched and unclenched his fists impatiently as the vicar undid one lock, then the other; Leo’s eyes were bulging, with veins popping out in his neck and forehead, as if it were about to explode. Hal noticed his fingers elongating, sprouting coarse fur... 

“Now, father!” Hal shouted. 

The vicar pushed the door open, and Leo fell forward into the room beyond. It was not a moment too soon: as the door swung shut, Hal caught a glimpse of a mouth morphing into a terrifying snout, and razor sharp teeth emerging. With a hearty creak, the door slammed shut, but not before the creature inside emitted a bone-chilling howl -- not remotely human-sounding. 

The vicar crossed himself. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> had to do a little research on churches and Anglican church doctrine for this one! If anything seems glaringly inaccurate, please let me know.
> 
> Also, my headcanon is that this vicar is an ancestor to the "sarcastic vicar" that helps Mitchell and George in season 1 and 2. :)

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry this chapter is a) really short and b) light on action.I promise there will be lots of action to come... and emotions, fighting, bonding, bickering, romance, intrigue, death, backstories, and someone getting hit over the head by a frying pan. Also stay tuned for some more appearances from familiar characters!
> 
> p.s. this is my first ever fic so... suggestions are more than welcome!


End file.
